Need To Plant Food Plots?

Anyone who has ever spent an afternoon overlooking a food plot will certainly have a deep appreciation for wildlife plantings. Even the wildlife photographer, who maneuvers silently through a stand of pines into an opening that was planted in winter wheat, benefits from wildlife plantings.

Food plots are very attractive to wildlife because they can supplement their daily nutritional needs. Such plots can be established and maintained at a relatively low cost. These plots can be designed to serve as a source of food and sometimes cover. Well-managed food plots have the potential to increase numbers of wildlife, quality of health and observability.

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THE SKY LAKE BOARDWALK
with Clarke Reed

When our ancestors first arrived in the Lower Mississippi River Valley they were awestruck by the giant cypress that had thrived here for centuries. As they cleared the fertile land, no one in the entire Valley thought to preserve a stand, or even one, of these spectacular trees. They are all gone…or so we thought! Providence and a remote swamp spared the site that contains “some of the largest and oldest baldcypress trees that remain on earth,” according to Dr. David Stahle, Director of the Tree Ring Laboratory at the University of Arkansas.

Sky Lake Wildlife Management Area is located approximately 8 miles north of Belzoni. With our encouragement, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks acquired the 773-acre site that will soon be enlarged to approximately 4,000 acres.

It is imperative that we protect these trees of national and international significance, and provide access for scientists, writers, photographers, wildlife enthusiasts and a host of the rest of us. Consultants tell us to expect thousands of visitors annually.

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Conservation Corner
(For the week of January 5, 2009)
Something to Crow About
by James L. Cummins

Crow season opened November 1, 2008 and will continue through February 28, 2009. Crow hunting is an often overlooked and fun sport and there is no limit to the number one can shoot. Although it is not the most popular form of hunting, there is no shortage of crows to hunt.

The first time I went crow hunting was with Jody Gee near Carrollton a few years ago. In our hunting party were real people like Lightpole, Mrs. Tutle and Hootie Ray and Fat Cat - all true Carroll County crow hunters.

Crows may not be the first species on your list of hunting options, but the hunting of crows is very exciting and it is an activity that not many Mississippi hunters participate in. It also helps control a bird that presents a problem to many farmers. I remember my grandfather purchased a Remington 1100 and buckshot just to help keep crows out of his corn fields and chicken yard. Crows in most parts of Mississippi could certainly use a bit of thinning.

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